Tag Archives: Horne v. USDA

Raisins, the Supreme Court, and Food Freedom

A raisin farmer in Horne v. USDA sued the United States Department of Agriculture for confiscating each year a significant percentage of his raisin harvest. This decades old scheme by the federal government was supposed to increase the price of raisins. Be that as it may, it is still theft and in opposition to the Fifth Amendment. Fortunately the Horne family was up for the 11 years battle that culminated in a win for property rights at the Supreme Court.

This article will give you more background on the case, while also providing additional interesting information on the historical origins of the Fifth Amendment. To learn more, click on this link.

The Incredible Raisin Heist

If this story wasn’t so serious, you would have to laugh because it is almost unbelievable in it absurdity. Keeping it simple, due to past bad policy, that was never remedied, there currently exists on the federal level an actual Raisin Administrative Committee (and we wonder why are deficit is so high) which exists, with the full force of the law behind it, to determine how much of a raisin grower’s crop they should each year confiscate from the raisin farmer. Enter stage left a raisin farmer and his wife who have had it with giving over the fruits of their labors with no compensation and are willing to take their case to the Supreme Court to get some relief from legalized theft by the Federal Government. You can’t make this stuff up.

Unfortunately, the outcome of this story has as huge of ramifications for property rights in America as did the Supreme Court’s Kelo decision where the Supreme Court upheld the idea that private property could be taken from private citizens if it provided a greater financial good for the community even if the property owner had no wish to sell.

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being REALLY important), this Wall Street Journal editorial from April 20th, 2015 is a 12. To read this article…  Continue reading